Page 36 of Just Forever

Rachel waves her hand in front of Lake’s face sloppily. “They all say that until they run into a moose.”

“What? What the hell does a moose got to do with any of this?” Lake asks.

“You’d be in nature. Moose are generally accepted as a part of nature,” Kelly says.

“I know that.” Lake rolls his eyes.

“Do you?” Kelly retorts. “Have you ever been in a forest?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I’ve been in a forest.”

“School trips to a local park don’t count,” Rachel says.

Lake points at Rachel’s face. “Okay, you and I went to the same school, and you know as well as I do that we went to a place with, like, trees and stuff.”

“You’re a total survivalist,” Kelly says with an exaggerated nod.

“I’d do better than you, cake boy,” Lake says.

Kelly lets out a derisive snort and pats Lake on the cheek. “It’s adorable that you think you could beat me.”

“You faint when you see blood,” Lake says.

“I don’t faint,” Kelly scoffs. “At best, I might get a bit queasy for a second, but that’s it. Anyway, it’s not like it matters.”

“It’s survival. You’re bound to get hurt at some point.”

“I’ll slap a Band-Aid on the wound with my eyes closed. Problem solved.”

It’s Lake’s turn to laugh derisively. “I’m sure there will be plenty of Band-Aids in the wilderness. They grow on trees, right? Just face it, you’re already fucked.”

“Pure speculation,” Kelly says dismissively. “In fact, I don’t think I’d even get hurt. I’m too good at survival.”

Lake leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “There’s only one way to settle this.”

“Already on it,” Kelly says, scrolling on his phone.

“Already on what?” I ask.

“I’m signing us up forNaked and Afraid.” Kelly’s still scrolling. I take his phone out of his hand.

“Hey!” he protests.

“I’ll do it for you,” I say.

“Oh, cool. That’s nice of you.”

I hide the phone away. Yeah, no. I’m not a fan of that idea. At all. That jealousy from earlier is back again. That unreasonable need to act like a fucking caveman and announce that the only person who’s ever going to see my husband naked is me, God-fucking-damnit.

Rachel lets out a loud squeak and sits up straighter, grabbing Sawyer’s hand in hers. “I just got the best idea. We should totally do that other show. The one where they travel!”

Sawyer sends her a confused look. “Should I know what that is?”

“Yes! The one where they, like, run all across the world and try to make it somewhere first. What’s the name? We watched it that one time when we were both down with the flu.”

Sawyer doesn’t seem any the wiser. “The one with all the rich housewives?”

“Oh!” Kelly sits up straighter too. “The Amazing Race? You guys should totally do that!”

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